Days after her resignation, the former Chief Justice of Madras High Court, Justice VK Tahilramani, is likely to face a CBI probe into allegations of misconduct against her.
According to a TOI report, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has told the CBI to 'take further action as per law' on a report by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) which flagged Tahilramani’s purchase of two flats in the outskirts of Chennai. Though it is not clear whether there were any irregularities regarding the purchase, reports say that the CBI may look into whether the properties were declared.
The IB report also mentions the former CJ's decision to dissolve a special bench hearing the idol theft cases against influential people.
The IB report came after former Justice VK Tahilramani resigned after the Supreme Court collegium transferred her to the Meghalaya High Court. The IB report had flagged the finances used for the purchase of flats in Semmencherry in the outskirts of Chennai. According to reports, while one of the flats were purchased using a loan from HDFC Bank, the other flat was bought using her own funds, from six bank accounts related to VK Tahilramani and her family.
The CBI has also been asked to probe the sudden dissolution of the special bench of the Madras High Court headed by Justice Mahadevan, which was hearing cases of idol theft involving highly influential people. Reports state that the bench, which was set up in 2018 to monitor idol theft cases, had taken a tough stand against the offenders but was dissolved by the then Chief Justice allegedly after pressure from a Tamil Nadu minister. The minister was allegedly unhappy about the cases being probed by retired IG Pon Manickavel. The IB report also reportedly alleged that a set of advocates were favoured upon.
Last month, the Supreme Court decided to transfer Justice VK Tahilramani to Meghalaya High Court as its Chief Justice, which was considered a step down from heading one of the oldest and largest high courts in the country. Protesting the collegium decision, Justice Tahilramani chose to resign from her post.
Many senior advocates had supported her decision to resign, stating that she was being targeted and shunted out to a much smaller court. The Supreme Court collegium had justified its decision by stating that though it would not be in the interest of the institution to disclose the reasons for her transfer, the collegium would not hesitate to do so if necessary.